Our Board

Clare is a strategic nurse leader with significant expertise in charity governance, finance and policy. A children’s nurse by background, Clare has had a long career in healthcare quality improvement before stepping into the third sector. For the last decade Clare was Chief Executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS) and has focussed her energies in creating safe and brave spaces where nurses can discover themselves and connect with a new sense of agency, by understanding what they need to flourish. She is a Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Scholar, an Honorary Professor of Nursing at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and a Visiting Professor, at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Her vision is to unleash the creativity of nurses to be catalysts for positive change and powerful advocates for the health of people, place and planet.

Adelaida Zabalegui has been a Nurse since 1982 (Spain), Master and Ph.D. in Nursing from New York University (1997) as a
Fellow of the Spanish Ministry of Health.

Assistant Director of Nursing at New York City Bellevue Hospital. Director of Nursing and ViceDean of Medical and Health Science School (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya). Chief Nurse Officer and currently Vice Director of Nursing at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and Associate Professor at Barcelona University.

Full Professor and Advanced Researcher in elderly care, 300 publications, director of 21 doctoral dissertation thesis,
Senior mentor of doctoral students at European Academy of Nursing Science (EANS) summer schools and Editor of the Spanish version of the journal “Nursing”.

Board Member of EANS, Catalan Association of Nursing Directions and Nursing Now campaign (European representative).

Dame Christine Beasley served the UK National Health Service in a number of roles during a 50-year career. She started as a student nurse at the Royal London Hospital and held a number of hospital and regional roles in nursing, operations and organisational development.

In 2003, she was appointed Partnership Development Director in the national Modernisation Agency. A year later, she took up her final role as Chief Nursing Officer for England, a post she held until 2012.

In parallel with her executive career, Dame Christine has been a member of various nursing and health related committees. She has been appointed to a number of non-executive positions in the health, charitable and higher education sector. She was Vice Chairman of the NHS Trust Development Agency from 2012 until 2016 and is currently Chairman of HEE London and South East Education Board.

She is Chairman of the Florence Nightingale Museum Trust and a Trustee of the Burdett Trust for Nursing.

Professor Bisognano is President Emerita and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

She previously served as the President of IHI for five years, as well as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for 15 years. She is a prominent authority on improving health care systems and her expertise has been recognized by her elected membership to the USA National Academy of Medicine, among other distinctions.

Ms. Bisognano advises health care leaders around the world, is a frequent speaker at major health care conferences on quality improvement, and is a tireless advocate for change. She is also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Research Associate in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities, and serves on the boards of the Commonwealth Fund, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Indiana University Health System and Catalysis.

Ms. Bisognano chairs the advisory board for the Well Being Trust.

Professor Al-Maaitah has held numerous key positions including Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament, Minister for Government Performance, Minister of Social Development and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. She is a member of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to the Regional Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Office of the World Health Organization.

An expert in public health systems, Professor Rowaida Al-Maaitah was presented with the Abdul Hameed Shoman Medical Sciences Award for Young Arab Scientists, and in 2000 she was selected as an Outstanding Jordanian Woman Professor.

She also served as a member of the Senate of the Euro-Mediterranean University, the Innovation and Competitiveness National Council, the Advisory Higher Committee for Women Empowerment in Malaysia, the Jordan First Initiative, and the Higher Council for Education and Vocational Training.

Professor Reddy is currently President of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), which is engaged in capacity building in Public Health in India through education, training, research, policy development, health communication and advocacy.

Professor Reddy was formerly headed the Department of Cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was appointed as the First Bernard Lown Visiting Professor of Cardiovascular Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2009. He is also an Adjunct Professor of the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University and Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.

Widely regarded as a leader of preventive cardiology at national and international levels, Prof. Reddy has been a researcher, teacher, policy enabler, advocate and activist who has worked to promote cardiovascular health, tobacco control, appropriate nutrition across the life course, chronic disease prevention and healthy living across the lifespan.

Professor Elizabeth Adams is currently Director of Professional Development with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation in Ireland. She is also the elected President of the European Federation of Nurses Associations, which represents 3 million nurses across Europe.

Elizabeth is an Adjunct Professor with Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia and University College Dublin. In the past, she was contracted by WHO Europe to undertake advisory and technical work on the European Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery towards Health 2020. Prior to this, she served as Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the Health Service Executive in Ireland.

Dr Omaswa was Special Adviser to the WHO Director General and founding Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) until 2008.

Before joining GHWA, he was the Director General for Health Services in the Ministry of Health in Uganda during which time he was responsible for coordinating and implementing major reforms in the Ugandan health sector.

He was Founding Chair, and later served as Vice-Chairman, of the Global Stop TB Partnership; was one of the architects of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria and served as Chair of the Portfolio and Procurement Committee of the Global Fund Board. He was also a member of the steering committee of the High Level Forum on the Health MDGs and participated in the drafting of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

Dr. Shin Kyung-Rim was a former member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, and the former Dean of Ehwa Women’s University College of Health Sciences.

As a member of the National Assembly, she contributed to the Medical Service Act in 2015, which helped to establish the scope of practice for nurses in Korea.

In the same year, she held the position of chair of the ICN Conference and CNR 2015 Organising Committee and successfully convened the Conference.

She holds a doctorate of Education from the Teachers College of Columbia University, is Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and is the President of the Korean Nurses’ Association.

Former Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Department of Health, Australia

Spanning a lengthy career in nursing and midwifery Debra Thoms has held a variety of roles since her student studies at UNSW and the Prince Henry and Prince of Wales Hospitals in Sydney, NSW. Her career has involved both nursing and midwifery leadership and broader health management roles in several states in Australia culminating in her appointment as the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Australia in 2015. Immediately prior to this appointment she was the inaugural Chief Executive of the Australian College of Nursing. Through her roles as CNMO and with the UTS WHO Collaborating Centre she has been involved in nursing and midwifery activities across the South Pacific for several years and also represented Australia on the WHO Executive Board.

Following her role with the Australian Government Debra was the acting Head of School at the Queensland University of Technology and then the interim Chief Executive for the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (ANZ). She holds Adjunct Professor appointments with the University of Technology, Sydney and the Queensland University of Technology.

Claudia Regina Laselva is a Brazilian nurse with 30 years of experience and a strong background in implementing quality certifications and accreditations in hospitals.

In Brazil, she was a pioneer in running Patient Flow Management projects, focused on improving hospital efficiency, optimising processes and reducing wastefulness in care. Through her work she demonstrates the importance of nursing to these issues and contributes to the sustainability of health systems.

Additionally, Claudia has become a leader on strategies to improve safety and the patient experience in Brazil and Latin America. She was President of SOBRAGEN – the Brazilian Society of Management in Nursing – for two consecutive terms.

Amy Staley is the Clinical Nurse Manager of an Orthopedic/Vascular Medical-Surgical unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP)/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Co-Chair of the Nursing Now Challengers’ Committee. In 2023, Amy graduated with her Master’s Degree in Advanced Clinical Management and Leadership from Columbia University. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Nursing Clinical Excellence Award: Rising Star at NYP/Weill Cornell. Outside of the workplace, Amy leads others through influencing both vaccine and health equity throughout the United States and beyond. Some of her notable work has taken place in collaboration with the World Health Organization, Johnson & Johnson, and at the 77th United Nations General Assembly. She is a proud advocate for nurses around the globe and pregnant teens in foster care.

Sana is a registered nurse and a postgraduate midwifery student at University of Birmingham. Sana has been the Challengers' Committee Eastern Mediterranean Hub Lead since 2021 and will now serve as the Co-Chair until 2026.

Sana is also a representative for Royal College of Nursing for Sandwell and West Birmingham branch.

Sana is a early career nurse and is passionate about advocating for better working conditions for nurses and midwives, she is a particularly strong supporter for leadership development of early-career professionals like herself.